Tucking into Recipes

Whenever my kids get the day off from school, Maria (the youngest) and I always browse recipes, looking for something special to make. I always have a lot of cookbooks on hand, especially the sort with lots of pictures. On a whim, a few days ago, I picked up quite a few cookbooks and books about food from the library. As it turned out, yesterday when school was cancelled for bad winter weather and Maria and I were skimming my latest finds. We were all tucked in on the sofa with a heap of books between us, sharing a quilt and our favorite recipes that we came across. We almost never find things that we can make with what's on hand or that all the kids will eat. Maria and I love broccoli, but Shasta and Lily won't touch it, etc. We all love great big casserole dishes that have the veggies right inside as the kids aren't too fond of salads and anyway it's got much more interesting flavors than everything would be separate. These also make handy lunches as they are often great cold or lukewarm in a wide soup thermos. The problem come in that only about two of us eat the same veg to slip into the casserole. So I hide the garlic, onions, and peppers in very small dice in tomato sauces, but I'm not allowed to vary this combination. The rare meal where it's just me and one or two other people is wonderful in that I can pump up the veg content with some different ingredients. So there we were, reading and sharing recipes. Jamie Oliver is one of our favorites, though we never can cook his recipes as they are. His food always seems to require all those vegetables that we can't get everyone to eat. We read a lot of cookbooks about Italian food. Pasta is always comforting on a winter's day. In the end we came up with a recipe of our own. A warm, rich, comforting casserole, a perfect winter dinner, all bright and cheerful while the wind howls and the snow blows outside. The power went out just after we made it, so we set the table with candles and the casserole was warm and comforting.

Chicken and Tomato Casserole

Ingredients

2-3 chicken drumsticks (or a scant cup left over protein of some sort such as veggie sausage)

3/4 box pasta (rottini or other ridged pasta is nice, but you can just throw the remains of a couple of boxes together for this one)

a little onion (minced very finely)

2 cloves garlic pressed

1/2 a red pepper (red blends in better, also mince finely)

2 scallions, if no one will notice (mice the white and greens separately, cook the whites, and add the green on top so that you can say that it's an "herb," basil is a good lie)

1 can tomato sauce (or 1/2 a can of sauce and a can of whole tomatoes)

a light grating of parmesan (highly optional)

dried oregano

salt & pepper

a pinch of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin to boil water for pasta. Saute chicken for about twenty minutes (unless using left overs or a different protein). Cook pasta according to directions on box. Finish the chicken in the oven in your casserole dish. Use the pan you had been cooking the chicken in to cook the onion, whites of scallions, garlic, and red bell pepper. Add the tomato sauce and simmer until it is somewhat reduced and has picked up the good bits at the bottom of the pan and incorporated the veg enough that people won't notice them too much. If using whole tomatoes, break them up with your spoon. These are softer than diced so they blend in better with the sauce. Chop up cooked chicken and toss into the sauce with oregano, salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Pour pasta into casserole dish and stir sauce in. Grate cheese on top if desired. Top with scallion greens, minced up finely. Stick in the oven for a bit until the sauce bubbles a bit and the cheese on top melts.